Leather-scrubbing machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. BRIGHT. LEATHER SRUBBING MACHINE.

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l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. H, BRIGHT.

l LEATHER SGRUBBING MACHINE. No. 577,402.

Patented Feb. 16, 1897.

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a' 6 (o `l E i UNrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY BRIGHT, OF COSTELLO, PENNSYLVANIA.

LEATHER-SCRU BBING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.'577,402, dated February 16, 1897.

Application tiled March 28, 1895. Renewed December 3l, 1896. Serial No. 617,673. (No model.)

To all whom it may concer/e:

Be it known that I, HENRY BRIGHT, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Costello, in the county of Potter and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Leather-Scrubbing Machine, of which the following is a specification.

In apparatus as heretofore constructed for washing and cleansing leather immediately after the tanning process the sides of leather are fed to the scrubbing-cylinders by hand. This operation results in the expenditure of considerable manual energy and results in reducing the operator to a physical wreck in a comparatively short time.

The'nature of the present invention is to substitute mechanical appliances for manipulating and feeding the sides of leather to the scrubbing provisions and which will be subservient to the will of the attendant, whereby the side of leather can be advanced or drawn back, as required.

A further object of the invention is to supply water in fine streams or jets upon opposite sides of the leather prior to the action of the scrubbing provisions thereon.

Other objects and advantages will appear to persons skilled in the art from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which- Y Figure 1 is a front elevation of a leatherscrubbing machine embodying the essence of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line X X of Fig. 1, looking to the right, as indicated by the arrow. Fig. 3 is a detail section on the line Y Y of Fig. 2.

The frame for supporting the operating parts of the machine comprises upper and lower longitudinal beams 1 and 2, disposed in parallel relation and connected at their ends by short vertical posts 3. Parallel standards oruprights 4 are attached at their lower ends to the longitudinal beams 1 and 2 and are connected at their upper ends by a crossplate 5. Scrubbing-cylinders 6 and 7 are mounted in suitable bearings upon the longitudinal beams 1 and are caused to revolve in opposite directions and at the same rate of speed by intermeshing gearing 9, secured to the shafts 10 of the said scrubbing-cylinders. Parallel rows of scrubbing-brushes 11 are disposed about the periphery of the cylinders and are so related that the brushes of one lcylinder operate in the spaces between the brushes of the opposite cylinder, whereby in the operation of the machine the side of leather is operated upon alternately by the brushes of the two cylinders. The scrubbingcylinders will be of like construction. Hence a detailed description of one will suffice.

The shaft 10 is provided near its ends with a block 12, and `bars 13 are arranged around the said shaft and secured to the blocks 12 in any desired manner and form supports for the rows of brushes 11. The cylinder is formed from a series of strips 14, having metal bars 15 arranged between their opposing edges, the ends of the wooden strips and metal bars being held between clamping-bands 16 and 17, which have attachment to the shaft 10 by means of spokes 18 or other equivalent supporting means. The metal bars 15 correspond in width to the thickness of the wooden strips 14 and serve to prevent the warping of the cylinder when the parts are assembled. The rows of brushes 11 extend through the body of the cylinder and are comprised between two metal bars 15, which strengthen and support the said brushes. The brushes are formed from wooden blocks, which are macerated, slitted, or otherwise treated, so as to disintegrate their fibers or provide in effect tufts approximating bunches of bristle or like material. The inner ends of the brushes have Shanks which are let into openings provided in the bars 13 and held in place by rivets or other fastenings 19.

Feed-rollers 2O and 2l are located above the scrubbing-cylinders in such a manner that' the side of the lower roller is about in vertical alinement with the space between the-contiguous faces of the scrubbing-cylinders. These feed-rollers comprise a metal core 22 and a covering 23, of rubber or like material, to prevent injurious contact of the metal cores with the leather, and which will obtain a rm grip upon the side of leather when manipulating the latter during the scrubbing or cleansing process. These feedrollers are caused to revolve in opposite directions and at like rates of speed by intermeshing gearing 24 and 25, which is duplicated at opposite ends of the said feed-rollers to obviate straining of the latter in the work- ICO ing of the machine. 2O is held yieldingly in engagement with the lower feed-roller 2l by means of springs 26, which are interposed between cross-bars 27 and 2S, loosely supported at their ends in the uprights or standards 4. The cross-bar 28 has the bearing in which the journal of the feed-roller 2O is mounted, it being understood that there will be one eross-bar for each end of the said feed-roller 20. The cross-bar 27 may be adjusted vertically in any of the numerous ways well known in the art, so as to vary the tension of the spring 26, whereby the feed-roller 2O is pressed against the feedroller 2l with a greater or less degree of force as may be required to attain the desired result. As shown, a wedge 29 is employed to effect the adjustment of the cross-bar 27 and is driven into mortises provided in the standards or uprights 4. This is most clearly shown in Fig. 2. A cross-bar 30 is firmly attached at its ends to the standards 4 and serves to brace that portion of the wedge extending between the said standards.

A journal of one feed-roller is extended and has a gear-wheel 31 mounted thereon, which meshes with a pinion 32 on a counter-shaft 33, the latter being journaled in suitable bearings4 and provided with differential bandpulleys 34 and 35, which are connected with corresponding differential band-pulleys 36 and 37 by means of belts 38 and 39, the latter being crossed and the former open, whereby the pulleys 34 and 35 are driven in reverse directions, as will be readily understood. rlhese band-pulleys 34 and 35 are mounted upon the counter-shaft 33, so as to revolve loosely thereon, and clutches 40 and 4l are provided to alternately key the bandlpulleys to the shaft 33, according as it is required to revolve the said shaft in one or the other di reetion, either to feed the side of leather to the scrubbing provisions or draw the same back. These clutches 40 and 4l are operated together by means of a shipper-lever 42, which has attachment with an operating-lever 43, extending within convenient reach of the attendant. The band-pulleys 36 and 37 are mounted upon a power-driven shaft 44, which latter has a band-wheel 45, connected by means of a belt 46 to a band-pulley 47 on the journal of one of the serubbing-eylinders, whereby motion is imparted to the latter.

The band-pulley 36 is of smaller diameter thanthe band-pulley 37, and the band-pulley 34, which is driven from the band-pulley 3G, is of larger diameter than the band-pulley 35, which is operated by means of the band-pulley 37. llenee when the band-pulley 36 is in gear with the shaft 33 the latter is rotated more slowly than when the band-pulley 37 is in gear with the said shaft. The band-pulley 36 and its adjnncts form the actuating means whereby the feed-rollersare operated to advance the sideof leather to the scrubbing provisions, whereas the band-pulley 37 and its connections are the means whereby The upper feed-roller the feed-rollers are operated to move the side of leather back or from between the scrubhing-cylinders. Thus it will be seen that the side of leather may be fed or advanced slowly and may be drawn back quickly.

Spray-pipes 4S and 49 are placed between the feed-rollers and the scrubbing-cylinders and are spaced apart a sufflcient distance to admit of the side of leather 50 passing between them. These spray-pipes are con nected in any convenient manner with a suitable source of water-supply and are perforated on their inner or opposing sides, so as to supply water to the opposite faces of the sides of leather in the scrubbing and cleansing process.

The operation of the machine may be briefly stated as follows: The side of leather, after being removed from the vat after the completion of the tanning process, is placed by an attendant upon the table 5l of themaehine and is advanced until its front edge portion is engaged between-the feed-rollers 20 and 2l, which latter grip the sides of the leather and advance the latter to the scrubbing-cylinders. As the front portion of the side passes beyond the feed-rollers it assumes a pendent position and passes between the spray-pipes 48 and 49, and is subjected to jets of water on its opposite sides. The leather continuing to advance passes between the scrubbing-cylinders and is cleansed by the action of the brushes thereon in the ordinary manner. By a proper manipulation of the operating-rod 43 and the clutch meehanism herein set forth the side of leather may be advanced or drawn back as often as desired until the desired result is attained.

In the construction of leather-scrubbing apparatus in accordance with the principles of the presentV invention it is manifest that changes in the form, proportion, and the minordetails of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is l. In combination, leather-scrubbing cylL inders geared to revolve together, feed-rollers geared together and adapted to advance the side of leather between the scrubbing-cylinders, a power-driven shaft operatively connected with one of the scrubbing-cylinders for rotating the latter at a uniform rate of speed, differential pulleys keyed upon the power-driven shaft, a counter-shaft in gear with the feedrollers, differential` pulleys loosely mounted upon the counter-shaft and driven in opposite directions and at unequal rates of speed from the differential pulleys of the power-driven shaft, clutches mounted upon the counter-shaft between the differential pulleys thercon, and a shipper-lever to move the clutches to gear one or the other of the pulleys with the eounter-shaft, whereby the feed-rollers are operated to advance the IOO IIO

side of leather slowly to the scrubbing-cylinders and withdraw it quickly, substantially as specified. A

2. In a leather scrubbing and cleansing apparatus, a scrubbing-cylinder comprising wooden strips and metal bars placed in alternate relation and secured between inner and outer bands, and having longitudinal spaces, and brushes extending through the said spaces formed in the body of the cylinder, substantially as set forth.

3. In a leather scrubbing and cleansing apparatus, a scrubbing-cylinder comprising a series of bars grouped around a central line, and strips, the latter forming the body and having spaces, and a series of brushes supported in the said bars and extending through the spaces between the strips of the body of the cylinder, substantially as set forth.

4C. The herein-specied leather scrubbing and cleansing apparatus, comprising two scrubbing-cylinders formed by means of bars grouped around a central line, wooden strips and metal bars disposed in alternate relation and held between clamping-bands, brushes supported at their inner ends in the said bars and projecting through the body of the lcylinders, feed-rollers, a fast and a slow actuating mechanism for the feed rollers, and spray-pipes disposed to supply water to the opposite sides of the leather, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aihxed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY BRIGHT.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM T. LEwIs, THOMAS MoRAN. 

